Course Listings

Environmental and Earth Sciences: Environmental Science

ENVR 105 Introduction to Environmental Science (1)

An introduction to environmental science designed to promote an understanding of the effect of human actions on the natural world. Topics include human impacts on atmospheric, aquatic, and terrestrial systems; human population dynamics; environmental perceptions and ethics; and the concept of sustainability. The course includes a service learning component. Lectures, discussion, films, readings.

Offering: Every semester

Instructor: Staff

ENVR 326 (TH) Environmental History (1)

This course will give students a general introduction to environmental history, using a wide range of sources including history textbooks, popular writing about nature and the environment, nature documentaries, and the landscape. The course will challenge students to think critically about the study of history, how history articulates ongoing human efforts to understand and control nature, and how history investigates current debates about the environment. Topics include: deforestation and the development of the agrarian landscape in Western Europe; European colonization and the effect of European contact on native populations in North America; industrialization and the use and development of natural resources; the definitions, planning, and management of public spaces such as national parks, game lands and zoos; establishment of environmental standards; the emergence of conservation ecology; "green" politics and ecofeminism.

ENVR 327W Water Resources (1)

This course examines water resources over short- and long-time perspectives and over small and large geographic areas. Emphasis is placed on evaluating water resources from a multidisciplinary perspective. Topics include: surface and groundwater hydrology; water quality; and the legal, political and environmental aspects of water use.

General Education Requirement Fulfillment: Writing-centered

Prerequisite: Consent of instructor

Offering: Spring

Instructor: Arabas

ENVR 332W Sustainable Agriculture for the 21st Century (1)

This course is designed to explore a diversity of topics relating to sustainable agriculture -- farming systems that are profitable, environmentally sound and good for people and communities. The course will be structured around five units. We will begin by defining the term sustainability and exploring its origins. The next three units will reflect the 'Es' of sustainability -- environment, economics, and equity - in relation to agriculture. The last unit will be project-based, requiring students to develop a plan for sustainable agriculture in a particular geographic region designated by the instructor. The goal of the final portion of the class is to explore a real life context what is meant by sustainable agriculture, the difficulties in achieving this, and the compromises that inevitably have to be made.

ENVR 333 Biogeography (1)

This course provides an introduction to the study of plant and animal distributions, both past and present. This is a broad field which overlaps several other disciplines, including biology, geography and geology. The study of plant distributions will be emphasized and approached from historical, cultural and ecological perspectives. Applications of biogeographic knowledge and theory to conservation problems will also be discussed. The lab component will address quantitative aspects of biogeographic research.

ENVR 348 Health and the Global Environment (1)

This course explores the interconnectedness of the environment, society, and health through a geographic lens. We will examine how geography has been used to understand disease patterns and outbreaks, access to health care, health inequality, and the impact of the environment on health. We will uncover how environmentally-mediated disease and health are represented and understood at multiple scales, the structural conditions leading to the varying levels of health we find in our communities and in our world, and how power relations impact and shape health possibilities in communities.

ENVR 445 Forest Ecology and Policy (1)

A case study approach to forests integrating forest policy and ecology. Using class and field instruction, students will design research projects that will emphasize the science and social science issues related to forest management. Course includes a mandatory pre-semester field trip in mid-August.

ENVR 494 Environmental Science Internship (1)

Student participation off-campus with an agency, group or individual working on some aspect of the environment. The purpose is for the student to gain practical knowledge through involvement and for the student to provide research and other work capabilities; 10-12 hours per week.

Offering: Every semester

Instructor: Staff

ENVR 495W Senior Seminar in Environmental Science: Part I (.5)

Senior seminar: Part I begins the capstone experience for ES majors. Students design and begin to conduct their senior thesis, an original piece of interdisciplinary research related to human impact on nature. The thesis will demonstrate a familiarity with the literature and methods of analysis both within and across the relevant disciplines. In Part I students focus on proposal formulation, research design, and data collection, refining their work through peer and instructor review. Seminar discussion of relevant texts may be used to consider the complexities of the discipline of environmental science.

Mode of Inquiry: Writing-centered

Prerequisite: Senior majoring in Environmental Science

Offering: Fall

Instructor: Staff

ENVR 496W Senior Seminar in Environmental Science: Part II (.5)

Senior seminar: Part II completes the capstone experience for ES majors. Students continue work on their thesis, focusing on data collection, analysis, and interpretation, refining their work through peer and instructor review. The final products of the seminar are the written thesis and a pubic presentation. Seminar discussion of relevant texts may be used to consider the complexities of the discipline of environmental science.